Week 2: First Impressions & Trouble Spots
Now that you've chosen your Schubert piece and spent some time with the score, it's time to share your early thoughts and challenges. Schubert’s music can be deceptively simple on the surface, but there's always something hidden in the phrasing, harmonies, or structure that invites deeper reflection.
Musical or Emotional First Impressions
What struck you when you first began working on your piece? Was it the mood, a particular modulation, the lyricism of the melody, or perhaps an unexpected harmonic twist?
What does this music say to you emotionally?
Are there any moments that feel especially personal or profound?
Trouble Spots: What’s Tripping You Up?
Every piece comes with its own set of technical or musical puzzles. Now’s the time to share:
Are there fingering passages that feel awkward or unclear?
Is voicing between the hands giving you trouble?
Are there rhythmic sections that feel unstable or hard to count?
Are you unsure how to shape certain phrases?
Use this thread to:
Ask for advice from fellow participants or mentors
Post short videos of the spots giving you trouble
Offer tips on how you’ve solved a challenge someone else might face
Bonus: Your questions will be answered by Dominic in an upcoming livestream TBD!
Remember: this week is all about process, not perfection. Let’s support each other in getting over the first hurdles and building a deeper connection to Schubert’s music.
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Hi everyone, thanks for the very kind feedback from last week :)
This is the wk 2 update which includes a bit more of the piece (up to bar 40).
Trouble spots for me are maintaining balance between the melodic line, bass and the bubbling accompaniment in the background. There are a few tricky passages around bars 27-31 where the harmonies are quite fleeting and difficult to bring them out cleanly.
My aim for next week is to run through the full piece and also start to memorise in parallel if I can.
Derek
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Derek McConville Great progress! I love your opening- sounds like this beautiful melody has always been there, playing somewhere and we are just joining in now to listen.
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Really busy this week working on the piece for my tonebase Fast Track mentorship and the piece I'm studying with my piano teacher, but today (Sunday) I finally carved out a couple of hours to write out the fingering for my chosen Schubert piece (Impromptu in A flat major Op. 142 No. 2). That way, I could at least make a first attempt at playing it through from beginning to end in slow tempo. I promised myself to do only one take and record it with all the mistakes that would occur; it's always good to have a baseline from which to improve.
So far, I've identified a few areas I want to work on in the next couple of weeks: 1.) Getting the piece into a more fluid tempo while making less mistakes; 2.) irrespective of the tempo, find a more flowing and graceful rhythm and avoid any plodding heaviness; 3.) identify spots of those typical Schubertian harmonic changes and surprises and bring out their "magic"; 4.) sing out and balance the different voices!
My other important goal for next week is to catch up with listening to the recordings you all - my fellow participants - have submitted so far; I haven't had any time this week yet to do that, but I'm looking forward to it.
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Alexander Weymann I'm impressed, Alex. Beautifully played, especially considering it's your first time all the way through. I look forward to hearing your progress!
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Alexander Weymann Gorgeous! I had to rewind when I heard the LH trill about half way through- reminded me of another epic Schubert trill we all know about. Can’t wait to hear your next version!
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Vidhya Bashyam I know just which trill you mean
- Schubert certainly knew how to write and place them rather ingeniously.
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I’m beginning to see more of the structure of this piece. Working on crisp staccato in the left hand against the legato in the right hand. And adding dynamics. This creates some tension in the music, then shifts somewhat when both hands are legato. Then thee is the center quiet section. And back to the tension of legato sixteenths against the staccato eights. The main challenge will be getting this up to speed, or close to it.
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Jennifer Mehta It sounds like you're diving deep into the nuances of this piece! The contrast between staccato and legato can create such beautiful tension and depth. Have you thought about isolating sections to focus on the speed before you put everything together? Sometimes slow practice in segments can help solidify those tricky transitions. Remember, it's all about bringing your musical interpretation to life, and it sounds like you're on the right path!
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So, another week and a half passed and here’s how the sonata sounds like at this point. I had (and still have) struggle with octaves in LH, and I’m trying to pull out singing upper voice, while not forgetting the base tones. Not easy, especially when the melody is in octaves in RH and LH plays arpeggios - I feel like watching tennis, looking fast from left to right all the time.
On a positive note, at least now I memorized it so it should be easier. Also, this time I actually caught a grand piano, with which I’m completely unfamiliar, but that’s the beauty of constant challenges.
Here’s the recording (I used the phone again, no better options at the moment…)-
Aleksandra Bogomaz Hey Aleksandra! It sounds like you're making some solid progress with the sonata! I completely understand the challenge of balancing that singing upper voice with the arpeggios in the left hand, especially with octaves in play. Remember, it can help to slow things down a bit and focus on isolating the parts that are giving you trouble. Breaking it down like that can really help build the confidence and clarity you need. And kudos to you for tackling a grand piano too! How does it compare to your usual setup? Looking forward to hearing your next update!
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Aleksandra Bogomaz Gorgeous playing and memorized too! Your phone recording sounds great by the way.
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Dominic Cheli hey Dominic, thanks a lot! I love playing on grand pianos, only I don’t have much opportunity to do so. My old upright piano is difficult to play, I call it my personal finger gym, so when I have the opportunity to play on grand pianos it’s hard to control the touch on the keys (and it’s very audible, when I listened to the recording I had the impression that I’m digging the keys, as there wasn’t enough time to adapt
). I already implemented your suggestions today and separated the hands for a while to get the right tone, so the difference is already noticeable. Thank you very much for that, the advice came in the perfect moment. 
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Vidhya Bashyam thanks a lot
. To reveal the mystery of memorization - I’m not that smart but this isn’t the first time I play this sonata and I had to play it from memory back in time as this is the requirement of our school system. So it remained somewhere in the brain -
Aleksandra Bogomaz Hi Aleksandra! It's fantastic to hear how you're already applying my suggestions! Transitioning from an upright to a grand piano can definitely feel like a whole new world, especially in terms of touch and control! Your approach of isolating the hands to achieve the right tone is a great strategy. Just remember to give yourself time to adapt to the grand piano's touch, and I'm sure that with consistent practice, you'll find that control growing more natural. Keep enjoying the process, and I can't wait to hear your progress!
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Everyone, tell me if I'm wrong here, since life might be easier if I am!
I feel like I have some editorial decisions to make regarding the Schubert A major sonata d959 mvt. 2. I looked up the manuscript and found that the latest manuscript is very different from the editions that are typically played. Some whole sections seem to have been added, like the octave repeat of the main theme in the manuscript. Other sections were re-written, I guess by Diabelli, who first published the sonata after Schubert's death.
Some of these edits make sense. For example, the manuscript seems incoherent at times, like here:
and so it was changed to:
That seems ok, I guess, though effort could have been made to match the rhythmic pattern of the right hand that Schubert wrote in. Also, from the manuscript it's clear that Schubert didn't actually flesh out certain parts, and some details had to be filled in.
However, it seems almost offensive to add whole sections to the piece that Schubert didn't write in himself. I'm especially annoyed about the octave repeat of the original theme, which always seemed a bit unnecessary to me. I'm almost relieved to see that Schubert didn't write that part in! The slow, calmer section after the climax is also quite different, even melodically. I'm tempted to deviate from the conventional performance and to match the manuscript where I think it makes musical sense, but it would be an odd exercise, since I really do like the commonly played version of the piece, and I'd rely on Diabelli's modifications for many sections regardless because of the unfinished, incoherent nature of parts of the manuscript.
Side note: If I'm reading his handwriting correctly, even the tempo marking is Andante, whereas Henle made it Andantino!
Anyway, in case you're interested in looking at it, here's the first page of the Henle:
And here's the "final" manuscript (taken from https://schubert-online.at/ ):
Could it be that there's a later manuscript somewhere? I know there's a version earlier than this one, but I can't find a later one. If this is the sort of thing that interests you, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
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Marc M Really interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing!
To be honest, I am used to listening and playing the version traditionally in Henle/Barenreiter.
However check out this link here (p 187) with alternate versions notated cleanly in modern type.
Barenreiter actually notates the 2nd movement in the ways you describe (no octave repeat of theme on 1st page. also check out bar 70 (116) it reflects the manuscript much more!
First of all, I think it is always your right to make interpretative and editorial decisions based on what you see from manuscripts and more - why not make your performance unique to what your vision of the piece should be! (especially when referencing Schubert's literal handwriting!)
You are right as well - it is marked Andante in this form.
Personally I would play the piece in whatever form you like, based on the above document, Henle, and the manuscripts!
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